But judging by Tuesday’s opening day, a spot in one of the film center’s purple seats may be hard to come by. The first three days of festival events are sold out. On opening night Tuesday, the Polish movie Ida played to a sell-out crowd, with hopeful moviegoers gathered outside the film center in Vineyard Haven hoping for no-shows. Wednesday night’s screening of Land Ho!, a movie featuring glaciers, geysers and two men former brothers in law trying to reclaim their youth, is also sold out.

But there are other virtual voyages ahead. The ninth annual festival runs through Sunday, Sept. 7. A gastronomic tour of Italy is on the agenda for Thursday. The Trip to Italy will be show at 8 p.m. after the annual festival gala, which begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Saltwater restaurant. Comedians Bob Brydon and Steve Coogan star in the movie, in which two men eat their way from Liguria to Capri while retracing the steps of the Romantic poets.

On Saturday morning there will be a family-friendly screening of the French film Belle and Sebastian, which is about a boy and a dog.

Tuesday night's showing of Ida was sold out.
— Jeanna Shepard

On Saturday night, the festival will feature the U.S. premiere of Austin to Boston, two weeks of driving 3,000 miles with Ben Howard, The Staves, Nathaniel Rateliff and Bear’s Den. The movie was directed by James Marcus Haney.

The Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival is presented by the Martha’s Vineyard Film Society.

Film society executive director Richard Paradise said he is excited to once again be introducing the Vineyard audiences to new films from around the world.

“The thing is, the festival has always been about exploring other cultures, other places through film,” he said. “When you watch a film, it takes you to a different country.”

A complete list of movies and events can be found on the film society’s website, mvfilmsociety.com.